Welcome to the Highlifeturntable. The purpose of this blog is to provide a way for people to listen to rare highlife music from Ghana and Nigeria. I plan to post tracks from my private collection along with a little commentary on what I know about the artist and what I like about the LP.
I don't have much information on King Yeboah, but this song off his 1979 Onipa Nye release is first rate. It is an easy going song that stretches out over 8 minutes, but the downtempo pacing of the guitar playing and the pitch of the vocals really stand out for me. Check out the extended guitar solo around the 5 minute mark. I hope you like it.
In his book Highlife Music in West Africa Sonny Oti makes the observation that highlife musicians in the late 70's were able to transcend their entertainment band roots and produce music where they became the modern equivalent of African town crier whose "song texts are communal messages, warnings and counselling". The lyrics of big band highlife gave way to longer tracks that dealt with social and political problems and sought to give voice to what people in Nigeria were experiencing and offer some reassurance and solace to a population dislocated by war and an increasing chaotic economic situation. I think this selection by Lord Adusa off his LP Mabena Otu on the Ojikutu label is a beautiful example of the impact this change had on the intimacy and immediacy of highlife music. Backed by the young stars band of the River state, the song opens with a plaintive bass guitar and organ driven melody which provides a reflective, almost melancholy, lead in for the vocals. I am not sure what the song is about but check out how the urgency in the song changes when Lord Adusa really begins singing around the 2 minute mark and the wonderful alto sax work after the 7 minute mark. I hope you like it.
I thought I'd switch gears for the next selection of the highlife turntable and start playing some Nigerian music. Eddy Okonta is one of my favorite 60's highlife trumpeters. Nicknamed the Obi of the trumpet his music has an exuberance that personified the best of the 60's dance band highlife style. I've listed 2 web sites that provide a lot of information about Okonta's career and importance in the highlife scene.
The tune I have selected Otanjele (Sweet Banana) is off a 1981 phonodisk release and is a playful exposition that begins with a steady instrumental opening that lays down the melody and opens up into a more raucous call and response before finally exploding into a full blown highlife rant complete with frenetic horn blasts and exuberant choruses of Sweet Banana. I think the song itself is a reworking of a West African standard, but Okonta imbues the lyrics with just enough licentious charm to transform the song into a joyous romp that probably drove the crowds at the old Central Hotel Yaba wild. See what you think.
